Since 1976 I've owned and operated bridge clubs in New York City. Since 2014 that club's been Honors. We currently run 18,000 duplicate tables a year, but we are most proud of the dozens of classes, the now eleven rubber bridge sessions, and the five games for players with fewer than 50 master points, that we offer every week. Just last year we merged with Aaron Silverstein's two NYC clubs, Aces and Cavendish. I am now responsible for overseeing 27,000 tables a year.

I'm also the 1st Alternate on the BoG representing Unit 155 and a member of Steve Moese's BOG Teacher and Club Manager Committee.

My 2018's ABTA Introductory Book of the Year,,"A Taste of Bridge" (Master Point Press) is the result of 40 year's teaching and watching others teach bridge to the absolute beginner. It is the first book of its kind to be published in many years and reflects a more modern and simple approach to reaching todays students who bring a lot less to the table, in terms of practical card skills, than did their predecessors.

For those of you waiting for a beginner book that teaches card play before bidding, bidding starts on page 101 of ToB.

Alexander Woo thinks there are very few for profit clubs that are actually profitable. He may be right. If he is, he makes a second valid point. If there are no profitable clubs, my harping about them being important to the league's health, would, indeed, be moot.

I'm sure that information is not readily obtainable from Horn Lake. And, with there no longer being a CEO position at the helm, there may be no pressing need to know. Significant structural changes within the organization may no longer be on the table. However, I would be curious to know if there is a correlation between profitable for-profit clubs and member growth. If there is, I'd then like to know if that holds true in both retirement and non-retirement areas of the country. I'd also like to know if there is any correlation between profitable clubs and having youth programs.

Two questions:

Do you know, or think you know, of any profitable bridge clubs out there?

What do you consider constitutes a profitable for-profit club? Is it simply a business that provides an income of sorts to a sole proprietor or couple? Is it one that provides a little extra income for a retiree? Or are there clubs out there where real, after labor, profits do exist?

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